|
|
![]() |
|
Like every
other language, Latin has its own pronunciation rules. The rules you find here
are the most important ones in order to be able to read a modal Latin text
quite fluent - though possibly not completely correct.
The C is pronounced hard, as the K in kingdom.
The G is pronounced as in the French word garçon.
The AE is prounounced as AI.
The T is always pronouced as T, never as S.
The U is pronounced as the OU is you.
The QU is pronouced as the QU in the word quiet.
The Y is pronounced as UU.
The I can be pronounced short, but mostly it's long as IE.
And one of the most important rules, the V is pronounced as W (f. ex. in the
word winter).
An example of the use of these rules is Veni vidi vici (a statement of
J. Caesar), pronounced in Latin as 'weenie wiedie wiekie'. Caesar is
pronounced as 'kaisar'.
The pronuciation rules on this page are those that are generally accepted as
correct. They correspond with the Latin spoken in the first century before and
the first century after Christ. The Christian Church introduced its own
pronuciation rules for the Latin language in the beginning of the 20th century,
based on the Italian language. This is the reason why Latin is often
pronounced like Italian (although there is a huge difference between both
languages).
Next lesson
© 1999-2003 by Cedric Van Assche
|
|
|
![]() |
|
